St. Valentine's Day and a Run-around on Catholic Relationships Resources on the Net

Painting by Jacopo Bassano (Jacopo da Ponte) [Public domain] 1500s

You may ask, "Why all the hubbub on Valentine's day?"  The reason is that Valentine is a saint of the church and the patron saint of love, engaged couples, happy marriages and even bee keepers. 

Despite his obscure history which took him out of the General Roman Calendar in 1969, St. Valentine is still recognized by the church and maintains his feast day on February 14.  It was Pope Gelasius in 496 that instituted his feast on the fourteenth to remember his martyrdom.

According to NewAdvent.org, there are three different Saint Valentines, a priest, the other the Bishop of Terni in Italy and a christian in Africa.  All of them though were martyred for the faith.  The priest and the Bishop were martyred on the Flaminian Way in Rome by the third century BC.  According to the Nuremberg Chronicle where the saint's record began to surface, St. Valentine often helped marry young Christian couples and helped persecuted Christians during the reign of Emperor Claudius Gothicus.  The strained relationship between Claudius and St. Valentine came to an end when Claudius got fed up with Valentine's attempts to convince Claudius to convert to Christianity.  He soon was sentenced to death by beating and beheading at the Flaminian Way on February 14, 269. 

A chapel named after St. Valentine was built on the Flaminian Gate by Pope Julius I and the gate was used to be known as the Gate of St. Valentine.  Although research also concluded that a similarly named Valentino, a tribune, donated the land where the chapel stood.  An ancient church and catacomb named after St. Valentine was unearthed by archeologists in Rome, strongly suggesting a real devotion to a real St. Valentine during the early church.

However, the true focus of Valentine's Day is love and romance, sometimes the ideal or the sordid underbelly.  Now, so you and your partner got blessed.  That's great.  Or you think you've found the one.  The One!  Yes, like the Count on Sesame Street.  So, what do you do to level up your relationship?  How do you make it Christ-infused?  It would be too long a read to answer that but here's some tips that you can check out.

1. Purity - For those young and in love but want to be really really sure what they feel is love, this team is just for you: the Chastity Project under Jason and Crystallina Evert.
2. Knowing the Theology of the Body (ToB) -  Stemming from more than a hundred talks during his Wednesday audiences as the Pope, this is St. Pope John Paul II's great answer to have more true love in an age of being used as an object or having that tendency to use the people most important.  The Corproject and the TOB Institute are great resources.
3. We than Me - Two articles from Aleteia.org do imply a team effort in a marriage rather than just one person carrying most of the load or one person lazily giving the load to the other.  Also, Blessed Charles of Austria tried to call his wife Zita even during miliary campaigns.  That's really keeping the love alive.
4. Prayer and the Sacraments - It's obvious but it's also hard to do.  I admit that no family or relationship is perfect and no circumstance is ideal but we do what we can in a peaceful and gentle way to have Christ part of our relationships.  In a recent homily, Msgr. Pablo Legaspi of the Diocese of Malolos said, "Praying as a family always reminds us to love God and allow them (the family) to remain intact."  I'm reminded of St. John Paul II who sometimes woke up at night and saw his father quietly kneeling in prayer.  He remembered that deed his father did and how impressed he was of him.

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Sources:


Catholic.org. St. Valentine. February 17, 2017: from http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=159 

Kosloski, P. 5 Saintly marriage tips from Blessed Charles of Austria and his bride, Zita. Aleteia.org. February 14, 2017: from http://aleteia.org/2017/02/13/6-habits-that-will-destroy-your-marriage-and-how-to-avoid-them/

NewAdvent.org. Saint Valentine. Catholic Encyclopedia. February 14, 2017: from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15254a.htm

Philips, F. Saint John Paul II’s father is a role model for all men. Catholic Herald. February 14, 2017:
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2014/06/16/saint-john-paul-iis-father-is-a-role-model-for-all-men/

Policarpio, M. Priest: Families Need To Pray Together. CBCP News. February 14, 2017: http://www.cbcpnews.com/cbcpnews/?p=91557

Sempre Familia, 6 Habits that will destroy your marriage, and how to avoid them. Aleteia.org. February 14, 2017: from
http://aleteia.org/2017/02/14/5-saintly-marriage-tips-from-blessed-charles-of-austria-and-his-bride-zita/